Page 2 - Nellis AFB Bullseye 9-18-15

2 September 18, 2015
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‘Yanks’ in the Royal Air Force
By Gerald White
99th Air Base Wing Historian
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. — On June
18, 1940 Winston Churchill stood before the
House of Commons and spoke.
One day before, the French requested an
armistice, and scant weeks earlier, the miracle
evacuation at Dunkirk saved more than 338,000
British and French soldiers from German POW
camps or worse.
In closing, Churchill made the stakes clear,
saying “What Gen. (Maxime) Weygand (a French
military commander in World War I and World
War II) called the Battle of France is over. I expect
that the Battle of Britain is about to begin.”
He then finished with these immortal words:
“Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties,
and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire
and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years,
men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.’”
As the storm clouds of World War II gath-
ered in 1939, the Royal Air Force had expanded
quickly, bringing to active service a number of
regionally-based Auxiliary Air Force fighter
squadrons. Among these pilots numbered three
Americans, all long time dual citizens and U.K.
residents; James W.E. Davies, Carl R. Davis and
Cyril D. Palmer.
Seeing the threat, they had joined and were
operational RAF pilots before the war started
on Sept. 1, 1939.
Two saw combat in the Battle of France and
“Jimmy” Davies was the first American RAF pilot
to die in action, killed on a Channel sweep just
before the Battle of Britain.
John K. Haviland, another long-time U.K.
resident, joined the RAF in July 1939, as did Wil-
liamM.L.“Billy” Fisk and bothwentoperational
Best practices ‘flying off the presses’
By Lori Quayle
561st Joint Tactics Squadron
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. — War
in the aerospace environment is fast-paced
and we need to have the newest and best
information to succeed in global operations.
But where do we get the latest and greatest
information? The 561st Joint Tactics Squadron
at Nellis Air Force Base is the clearinghouse
for best warfighting practices and techniques.
In fact, it is the only unit in the Air Force
focused on TTP and tactical lessons learned.
First activated in 1942, the 561st JTS
was originally a training squadron for B-17
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Commentary
in time to fly in the Battle of Britain as did Hugh
W. Reilly, American born but raised in Canada.
Behind them were the first pilots to come
through what would become the Royal Canadian
AirForce“pipline.”OttoJ.PetersonandArthurG.
Donahue both arrived in England in June 1940,
the first of over 9,000 Americans who served in
theRCAFwiththeRAFinWorldWarII,followed
soon after by Philip H. “Zeke” Letrone.
Also joining up were Eugene Q. “Red” Tobin,
Vernon C. “Shorty” Keogh and Andrew “Andy”
Mamedoff, all civilian pilots who had traveled
to London after escaping France and wanting to
get in the war as soon as possible. Their audacity
was rewarded and they joined the RAF in time
for the Battle of Britain.
The Battle of Britain raged in the skies over
England from July 10 to Oct. 31, 1940, as the Luft-
waffe attempted to pave the way for an expected
German invasion of England.
After significant losses over France and later
sparring over the Channel, the RAF had built
its strength back up to 640 fighters to take on an
estimated 2,600 Luftwaffe bombers and fighters.
American pilots joined others from across
the British Empire and refugees from Poland,
Czechoslovakia and France, all sharing in the
sacrifice as the RAF found its back to the wall
against unremitting Luftwaffe attacks.
By Sept. 7, when Hitler broke off the campaign
against the RAF and its stations and ordered the
bombing of London and other cities, the RAF
lost more than 420 pilots who were killed, seri-
ously wounded, missing and presumed dead or
captured.
Of these, Billy Fiske was the first American
pilot to die on Aug. 16 from injuries after crash-
landing. He was followed by double ace Carl
Davis who was killed in combat on Sept. 6. Otto
Flying Fortress crews destined for Europe
during World War II. Like many units, it
was deactivated as needs changed. The most
recent reactivation was in 2007 when it was
charged with producing and disseminating
new and revised TTP manuals.
Twenty five new or updated volumes have
been published since March 1, according to
Mr. Brian Safrit, director of production.
These books have procedures and tech-
niques to employ in newer planes as well as the
latest in best practices for legacy aircraft and
weapons. A sampling of the squadron’s newest
volumes includes fresh information, processes,
and images/graphics for the F-35 Lightning
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Peterson and Hugh Reilly died in crashes on Sept.
27 and Oct. 17.
By then, Red Tobin, Shorty Keogh and Andy
Maedoff had been pulled from combat and sent
to RAF Church Fenton on Sept. 19, 1940, to be
the first pilots for the No. 71 (Eagle) Squadron.
Zeke Letrone and Art Donahue soon followed,
although Donahue returned to his RAF unit
shortly thereafter.
Of these original “Yanks in the RAF,” all but
one died in combat or accidents along the way
with only John K. Haviland surviving the war.
These Americans were among that thin blue line
of the RAF who Churchill praised when he said
“Never in the field of human conflict was so much
owed by so many to so few.”
When the war first broke out in Europe,
an American philanthropist, Charles Sweeney,
started recruiting pilots for a “Lafayette Esca-
drille” type unit in France. The first recruits were
redirected to England when France fell so quickly.
The RCAF established the Clayton Knight Com-
mittee, originally to recruit civilian instructors for
their part of the Empire Air Training Scheme.
Thesegroupsputthewordoutquietlythrough
the American flying community that the RAF
and RCAF needed pilots, a message reinforced
by intense media coverage of the Battle of Britain
and the Blitz bombings that followed.
Manyyoungmenwereeagertoapplywhomay
not have met the very high pre-war standards of
the Army Air Force, Navy or Marine Corps, or
who were not willing to wait for their place in a
still-slowly expanding American military.
To avoid legal issues of neutrality and citizen-
ship, these pilots very quietly made their way to
Canada and joined up there before crossing the
Atlantic.
With more American pilots (RCAF trained
II, B-2 Spirit, MQ-9 Reaper, U-2S, E-3 Sentry
(AWACS), RC-135, EC-130H Compass Call,
and EC/MC-130J. Subject matter experts are
always working with the squadron’s editors to
update and add to the knowledge base.
Want to know the differences between
F-35 A, B, and C? They are in the book.
Twenty seven individuals recently contrib-
uted their expertise to the 228-page volume
that includes information about night/IMC
considerations, map theory, and more. Forty
one of the 109 graphics and images in the
volume are new.
The 561st JTS keeps abreast of quick-turn
tactics, techniques and procedures, and de-
status, physical handicap, political affiliation or any other
The deadline for submissions to the Bullseye is
no later than Wednesday, 4:30 p.m., one week prior
to desired publication date. Briefs are due no later
than Wednesday, 3 p.m. one week prior to desired
publication date. Articles must also be submitted no
later than Wednesday, 4:30 p.m., one week prior to
desired publication date unless the editor provides
an exception to a late-breaking story or article, and
BULLSEYE
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and others) arriving in England, the RAF es-
tablished the first of what would be three Eagle
Squadrons, manned primarily by U.S. pilots and
led, at least initially, by RAF commanders.
No. 71 (Eagle) Squadron formed up at RAF
Church Fenton in Sept. 1940 but did not go
operational until Feb. 1941. The second, No. 121
(Eagle) Squadron, formed up on May 14, 1941
at RAF Kirton-in-Lindsey, and No. 133 (Eagle)
Squadron formed up in Aug. 1, 1941 at RAF
Coltishall.
Except for the Dieppe Raid on Aug. 19, 1942,
the units did not fly together in combat.
Once the United States entered the war after
Pearl Harbor, it was only a matter of time before
these combat-tested veterans joined the USAAF.
On Sept. 29, 1942, standing on a rain-swept
tarmac at RAF Debden, most RAF Eagle Squad-
ron pilots transferred en-masse to the USAAFs
newly activated 4th Fighter Group.
Two hundred forty four American pilots
flew in the Eagle Squadrons and 77 were killed;
another 31 later died in USAAF service.
Beyond the Eagle Squadrons, other pilots
and aircrew transferred to the USAAF, but some
stayed with their RAF/RCAF units for the rest
of their combat tour and some Americans in the
RAF/RCAF chose to remain part of the RAF for
extended periods, some for the rest of the war
and beyond.
Because of equipment shortages, 4th FG pilots
continued to fly their beloved Spitfires through
early 1943 before converting to the Republic P-47
Thunderbolt (for a short period) and then the
North American P-51 Mustang.
The pilots of today’s 4th Fighter Wing wear,
as heritage patches, the crests of RAF 71, 121 and
131 (Eagle) Squadrons, reflecting the valor and
sacrifice of their predecessors.
velops flash bulletins and tactics bulletins
full of flexible, responsive, and real-time
processes as the information becomes avail-
able and vetted. Flash bulletins get critical,
time-sensitive information to the warfighter
and are incorporated into the TTP volumes.
The squadron’s commander, Col. Deanna
Violette, is always on the lookout for ways to
collect and make available the best practices
to enhance warfighter lethality. Working
groups arrive at Nellis AFB throughout
the year to update the information in the
volumes. U.S. Air Force Weapons School
graduates and others also contribute to the
body of knowledge.
articles must include a byline (author of the story).
For all submissions, a name and phone number of a
person to contact must be included in the event questions
arise.
All material is edited for accuracy, brevity, clarity
and conformity to the Associated Style Guide, to include
military ranks and proper writing etiquette.
Corrections: The Bullseye staff members strive for
accuracy each week. If you notice an error in fact, contact
the Bullseye staff at (702) 876-4039, or e-mail bullseye@
aerotechnews.com, and we will consider publishing a
correction when appropriate.